


Deep in the Red

by Triblast28



Category: DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, takes place in a pre new 52 universe, while bbrae is present it's not the focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-25 21:44:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13843629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triblast28/pseuds/Triblast28
Summary: Deep in the Red there lies hundreds of beings. Creatures ranging from long extinct to extremely common. Creatures that have been long forgotten. But some creatures don't live beings forgotten. Some thought to be long gone may just be hidden in plain sight. Only few can realize the dangers that lurk in the Red. And Garfield Logan a.k.a Beast Boy is one of the few. Can he manage to beat a long-forgotten foe with an unstoppable desire? Can he save the Titans? Can he save himself from being overtaken? All the answers lie deep in the Red.





	1. Barring it's Fangs

**_“There is more life beneath your feet than you think,”_ **

The dense clouds covering the sky parted, allowing the moon’s glow to shine down on Titan’s Tower. The solitary building sat motionless in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Not a single soul was stirring within its walls. The statues of the founding and fallen members glimmered in the moonlight. In this lighting they almost seemed like they were alive once again —  that they could walk and talk once again. While it’s been proven that death may not be permanent in this world, there comes a time when one must accept that those who have been lost for so long aren’t coming back that they have just become cliff notes in the history of this grand family. They were no longer connected to this world, and their presence almost completely erased. They were nothing but distant memories.

Suddenly, a red aura pulsed from the ground and touched the sky. Within a matter of moments, all manners of beings were awoken. Birds leapt from their nests, cawing at the top of their lungs. Insects came out of their holes, small animals ran around feverishly, and then they all stopped and gathered at the same spot. The red aura pulsed around them, and the creatures that were gathered started to peck and burrow through the ground all at once. It was as if   _ something _ had loudly shouted out to them. This thing — this  _ presence _ — it was as if they wanted them to know that they were still here; that they hadn’t gone to rest, that they were more than ready to be known. As such,  the presence would be known, but only by a few of the residents of the Tower. 

Raven rose out of bed suddenly, shocked and hyperventilating.For a brief moment, it felt like she had just been pushed out of her own body. It wasn’t like she had been unconsciously astral projecting. No, it was like something was  _ forcefully _ trying to remove her. She looked out of her window briefly. It was as if something was watching her. Suddenly, a loud scream made her leap out of bed. A chill ran down her spine, and she hurried down towards M’gann’s room, where it seemed to manifest. She quickly overrode the lock on the door, and saw M’gann curled into a ball, clutching her head and screaming. 

“M’gann!” Raven shouted, concerned. She quickly went to the young girl’s side. 

“Arrragh!” M’gann screamed once again, clutching her head tighter.

“It’s okay, M’gann. Calm down,” Raven said, starting to radiate a calming energy in the hope of easing M’gann’s terror.

Suddenly, that overwhelming energy returned, and the two heard a thousand voices echo through their mind,all of them saying; “Not of Earth,” repeating endlessly.

As quickly as it had begun, it  all ended. The voices were gone, M’gann was fast asleep again, and everything was calm. All that was left was a very confused mentor, trying to figure out just what had happened. Outside, the red aura pulsed once again, but only one person was vaguely aware of it this time. However that one person was already facing a horrible night. At the end of the hallway on a lower floor, was Garfield Logan, tossing and turning in his bed. Sweat ran down his brow as he thrashed in bed. While his body was still in the Tower, his mind most certainly wasn’t. Although he was not inhabiting the realm of dreams. No; the realm  _ he _ was entering was far more gruesome. As his mind left his body, another red aura rose from the Earth, and this time, it touched  _ more _ than just small creatures. 

Gar’s eyes darted open as he felt a chill run down his spine.Still half awake, he moved his hands to his eyes and rubbed at his face. He was accustomed to bad nights; they came with bad memories;something that Gar was in full supply of. While they were slowly being replaced with memories of better times, they always lingered in the back of his mind. As he opened his eyes, he immediately realized that something was quite wrong.

“Why am I _ red _ ?!” he shouted, surprised and slightly disgusted as he stared down at his hands. “Why am I see-through?!” Gar slowly brought his hands together, but as soon as they came into contact, they fazed through each other. “Man, is this how Rae feels when she astral projects? I don’t know how she does it for so long... This... this...” Gar looked up and realized he wasn’t in the Tower. In fact, he didn’t even think he was  _ on Earth  _ anymore. 

* * *

 

There was no sky, no ground; only an endless mass of gore. Blood, meat, bones, and flesh, moved through him like a nauseating ocean. Human limbs, animal heads, skeletons,  extinct and mythological creatures; they all appeared in the ocean of gore, only to be washed away in a wave of blood and organs. In the distance, he heard hundreds of voices and a variety of roars from creatures both alive and long dead. Sometimes, creatures like lions formed briefly, and bit into the gore. Surrounding it and then they would start to devour it, but just as the lion feasted, a bigger creature would form, and rip the lion apart. Humans formed, but very few creatures stepped towards them, most common were other humans, but that doesn’t mean their interactions were less violent. 

“Where... where am I?” Gar asked himself distantly.

He couldn’t even begin to comprehend where exactly he was. He wasn’t sure if this was even real. It felt like some sort of dream. Gar felt terrified and disgusted; it was like he was swimming through a slaughterhouse. 

Suddenly, he heard the unsettling sound of meat rubbing against more meat from behind him. he sound immediately made him feel nauseous. Every bit of calm he had left nearly disappeared as he turned around and bore witness to a human body slowly forming. The limbs —  except for the left leg — were completely skeletal, its torso slowly gained its muscle-like structure, and small chunks of flesh gingerly began forming across its chest. Its head was fully formed, save for its eyes. 

“Is this the first time you have ventured in this realm, young man?” the body asked in a cold, otherworldly tone. 

“Just what exactly is this place?” Gar asked, repulsed by the blight-like creature in front of him. 

“Have you never asked where your powers come from, boy?” The body chided in mild amusement, its tone dismissive. The muscle structure over one of its arms began to develop as it addressed Beast Boy. 

Gar then glared at the body, angry that, despite not knowing anything about him, it had touched a sore spot. “It came from the treatment I was given to stop the Sakutia virus from killing me,” he replied curtly.

The body suddenly erupted with laughter, it’s voice booming and unnatural. “You think a  _ mere medicine man _ can give you access to all of  _ this _ ?!” The creature opened its disfigured arms wide, indicating the to savage ocean around them, all the while wearing a gleeful smile. Suddenly, the ocean of gore let out an Earth shattering roar. “This is the Red! The embodiment of all life across this once grand planet!” he paused, and the hollow of where his eyes would sit seemed to penetrate into Garfield’s very soul. “And you are but  _ one _ of the chosen few allowed to be part of its glory!”

Gar looked around him and winced. “Man, if this is it in its  _ glory _ , I would hate to see what it looks like on a bad day,” Gar commented, trying to keep the mood lighthearted.  His smile faltered when he witnessed a cat form and immediately rip into a mouse.

The body laughed once more, uproariously, and almost in mockery. The corners of Garfield’s mouth twitched, but he couldn’t quite smile anymore. “You are a funny boy! Yes, too bad you won’t be making many jokes like that for much longer,” the body forewarned in an eerily cheerful tone.

Gar glowered at the being. “Look buddy, I’m a ghost and you’re....,” he hesitated, realizing that the creature he was dealing with was hardly human. “Well, I don’t even know where to start with you, but what I’m saying is that neither of us is in a position to be making threats right now,” Gar replied sternly, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Boy, you are too obtuse,” the body chided once again, although it appeared to be amused by Gar. “Listen well, there is more life beneath your feet than you think. You aren’t even fully aware of all your surroundings. I’m so close to you, yet you haven’t even realized it yet.” As the body spoke, the ocean of gore grew more violent, and the creatures forming became even more savage. “You're wasting your potential. You could be a grand user of the Red, yet you waste your time still holding a form like that, and letting the world go on as it is.” The cheerful tonehad disappeared,as the body tilted its head and sent an intense look in Gar’s direction. “I shall give you two choices,” the creature began, sticking out two of its mangled digits in demonstration, “accept my influence and truly become one with the Red, or become my first supper when I rise. Tell me boy,” it paused, sizing him up with its empty sockets, “which one do you choose?” it asked in a menacing tone. His voice, now completely devoid of any of the insane joy he once had, now resonated with an ominous foreboding 

The ocean became more turbulent as the body continued to radiate a wild aura. 

“Look, my girlfriend is half demon, and I already got a sweet deal going on with her. o you think I’m going to go around town making deals with the first demon I see? What type of man do you take me for?” Gar teased, wearing a smirk and trying to fake a calm demeanor. In reality, he was panicking. He’d gone toe to toe with demons before, but something about this body felt different from anything he’d encountered previously.    

The body saw through Gar’s facade easily enough, and licked its grotesque lips in a malicious smile. “Your jokes will send you to the grave one day. Be careful; a life trapped in the Red is unsuitable for most,” it warned. The waves of gore then rose, and slowly started to submerge it.

Gar floated up and looked down at the ocean. “I can tell! Who the heck would want to be stuck in  _ this _ ?” he remarked, feeling queasy as he watched the body slowly sink into the bloody abyss. 

The body laughed once again. “Tell me about it, boy,” it said as it’s eerily cheerful tone returned. “I’ve had to feast and claw my way to get back to this point, and I will continue to feast and claw my way through the Red when I make my return,” it declared proudly, wearing a smile that displayed its jagged teeth. “I’ve been long trapped in this grand realm, and all the while that I’ve been trapped, the Earth decayed and the avatars have grown weak.” Once again the cheer disappeared and was quickly replaced with reserved fury. “They will either accept my strength or become a meal! I will ask you to make a choice once again, Garfield Logan, when I make my return. It would be wise to remember how things work in the animal kingdom; the strong form packs and rule the world, while the weak are nothing but a buffet for the strong,” the body said coldly before it finally disappeared beneath the ocean.

Gar groaned and rubbed at his forehead, feeling unwell. “Man, that’s a real primitive way of thinking,” he remarked curtly with a sigh. “Now, how do I get out of here?”

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed from behind him, and a massive tidal wave of gore crashed down over him.  

* * *

 

Gar’s eyes darted open, but this time he was safe in his own bed. He could only vaguely recall where he’d just been. His mouth tasted of blood, and his room reeked of rotting flesh. He felt like vomiting, but he somehow managed to keep it all in. The words  _ feast _ ,  _ red _ , and  _ boy, _ echoed through his head as he slowly rose out of bed and walked over towards the window overlooking the water. He took in a shaky breath and closed his eyes. Although it was only a dream, he was still surprised that he was able to keep his cool around  _ something _ like that. Had he been there a second longer, he thought he would snap. 

The Red...it felt so familiar yet foreign at the same time. It was almost hard to believe that he was tapped into a place like that — a place so wild and frantic, he was connected to every living being. Above all, it appeared that he was also connected to whatever the hell that creature was. The Red — as the body had referred to it — had been a place of nightmares. The encounter he’d had with it was the only thing currently plaguing his mind. Just thinking about what it said sent a chill down his spine, and remembering what it looked like made his stomach turn. He hoped it really had been just a dream, even though it had been so vivid in detail.  

Gar looked outside and stared down at the Tower’s front lawn. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.  It was like he had awoken in a different world. Suddenly, a bird flew up to his window and looked him dead in the eyes. He gave an awkward wave to the small creature, unnerved by its peculiar approach, only for it to squawk at him loudly before flying off. In that moment, Gar rapidly grew tired, and he could barely stand upright. As he slowly stumbled to his bed, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly amiss. He lay down as the ominous words continued to ring through his mind. When he closed his eyes at long last, a red pulse emitted from the ground outside, and more birds flocked towards it.

That unsettling feeling still hadn’t left Gar even as he woke up in the morning. At this point, he wasn’t too sure if what he had seen was real. It could’ve just been a bad dream as a result of some rotten tofu or something. That felt more likely, and also less life-threatening. He still couldn’t shake how  _ real _ it had felt, and how clearly he could remember every detail, right down to the wretched smell. Gar wasn’t used to have prophetic visions or random people invading his mind. That was more of Lilith's, Raven’s, and M’gann’s field of expertise. He wouldn’t even know where to start when it came to the signs of possession, or how to interpret such dreams. As he walked through the halls of Titans Tower, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching him. Whatever  _ it _ was, it was being very obvious about it, almost like it wanted to be known. Like it was establishing its dominance.

The Tower itself, however, was oddly quiet. Kon wasn’t shouting at Tim, Bart wasn’t running through the halls, and it was like no one else was awake despite it being late in the morning. The strange silence didn’t help ease Gar’s nerves at all. Relief only washed over him when he entered the living and room and saw Raven sitting at the dining table, reading a book. He smiled softly and walked over to her. 

“Hello Gar,” Raven greeted him, taking a sip of her tea.

Gar chuckled lightly, and took the seat next to her. “How did you know it was me?” he asked, smiling once again.

“Because you’re the only other one in the Tower besides M’gann.” Raven yawned and placed her head on Gar’s shoulder.   

“What?” Gar asked, surprised. “No one else is here? No Tim, Kon, Cassie, Vic, or anyone?”

“No,” Raven shook her head, “When I woke up this morning, everyone was gone,” she remarked tiredly.

Gar briefly worried about the rest of the team before glancing at Raven again. “Are you okay, Rae?” he asked her, concerned. 

“I couldn’t sleep at all. M’gann kept getting night terrors, so I stayed up and tried to help her get through them. Whenever I did try to sleep, it felt like something was pushing me out of my body. I didn’t sense any demonic entities, and when I called Lillith, she said she that hasn’t had any negative visions about us recently. Still, I can’t help but feel worried...,” Raven admitted, all the while holding Gar’s hand.

Gar himself worried internally, still wondering if his dream was real. 

“Hey guys,” Bart said as he suddenly appeared in the kitchen. 

Gar practically leapt out of his seat. “When did you get in here?” he asked in surprise.

“Like, one, or two seconds ago,” the speedster answered casually. He then began to raid the cabinets. “Man, I need something to feast on.”

Gar’s eyes widened, and goosebumps ran across his skin. “What did you just say?” he asked nervously. 

“Nothing,” Bart answered him with a shrug.. “Hey, where’s the real food at? I can’t stand fake food like this,” he said, throwing out a bag of chips.   
Raven raised an eyebrow at her teammate’s behaviour. Between how Gar froze up, and how Bart was acting, something strange was definitely going on in the Tower. “Bart, are you okay?” she asked. Concerned, she got up and started to approach him.

“Of course he’s fine, he’s just hungry,” another voice replied from behind them, causing them all stop.

Gar and Raven turned around to find that Tim has joined them. He was currently looking out the window towards the garden. “Tim, don’t just Batman in like that!” exclaimed Gar, clutching at his chest, where he tried to calm the maddening beat of his heart. “It was bad enough when Dick did it, I don’t need you to do it too!” 

Tim, however, remained silent, and continued to stare out the window. Gar shook his head and looked down at his hands, almost thinking he’d find that they’d turned red and near invisible again. “I’m worried, Rae,” was all he said before the rest of the team slowly filtered into the living room. 


	2. Not His Week

**_“Have you ever experienced death? Not just witness it, no have you truly felt it?”_ **

“How do they keep breaking out!” Gar shouted, frustrated as he was thrown down the street by Mammoth. 

As he flew through the air he quickly changed into an armadillo and curled into a ball to endure the impact. He grunted upon hitting an unfortunate taxi car. Despite the armor, he still felt the hit. Tomorrow he was definitely going to wake up with a bruise. He uncurled and started to slowly pad towards the ongoing battle. Gar could swear on his life that the Fearsome Five were more pitiful with every appearance. The only veterans were Gizmo and Mammoth, while the rest of the team was made up of C-listers, like the second Red Panzer and Ding Dong Daddy. Gar could list fifty weirdos he fought during his Doom Patrol days that were more of a threat. Between himself, Raven, Tim, Bart, Kon, Cassie, Rose, Amy, and M’gann, this was a cake walk. As he turned back into his human form, a shadow was cast over him. 

“Hold it right there!” the voice of a thirty-year smoker shouted at him.

Gar turned around and saw a chubby, definitely middle-aged man wearing an old yellow and black jumpsuit with an H-shaped shield on his back, standing on top of the taxi he had crashed into. On his face were sunglasses with lenses that were stylized to look like insect eyes. Gar raised a confused brow at him, and tilted his head in disbelief.

“Who… exactly are  _ you _ supposed to be?” Gar asked, trying to comprehend who exactly was staring him down.

“I’m Sergeant H.I.VE, here for my long awaited vengeance!” the strange man declared, raising his clenched fists into the air in righteous fury. “It’s been so, so,  _ soooo _ long since you darn teenagers destroyed the first H.I.V.E, and now I finally have my chance to get my revenge!” After his exuberant speech, he keeled over and went into a brief coughing fit.

Gar put his hands over his mouth and tried his hardest to contain his laughter, but couldn’t. He erupted into a fit of giggles, making the Sergeant color with embarrassment. “You’re kidding me, right?” Gar asked, still shaking with laughter. 

“Curse you! You’ll pay for mocking the glory of H.I.V.E!” Sergrent H.I.V.E growled, leaping off the car towards Gar. 

Suddenly a yellow and red blur sped in front of the shapeshifter, and within a blink of an eye, Sergeant H.I.V.E had vanished. Gar turned around and saw Bart holding the miscreant by the neck.

“What the heck, Kid Flash!?” Gar yelled as he ran to the speedster, his eyes widening in shock.

“Is  _ this _ really what we’ve come to?” Bart sneered in disgust, dropping the Sergeant onto the ground. He then leaned down and examined his prey callously. “We all need to know our place on the food chain. A mouse does not feast on a lion until it’s a corpse, and I am no corpse.” 

Gar pulled Bart up by his shoulders and turned him around so that they could look each other in the face. “What’s your problem man?!” Gar gripped Bart’s shoulders tightly as he glared at him“Why are you acting like this?” He sounded frightened and concerned.

Gar’s blood ran cold when Bart threw his head back and laughed, removing his hands from his shoulders forcibly. “Boy, you worry too much, nothing bad has happened,” Bart replied with an amused smile. “Well… Not  _ yet  _ anyways,” he then added, but his voice wasn’t quite his own. 

As Bart ran off, Gar remained frozen in place. He  _ knew _ that voice. He often heard it echo throughout his mind every time he laid in bed.  _ It couldn’t be that creature’s voice _ . It was impossible! He was sure it was  _ just _ a dream. There was no way that disgusting, mangled body was real, let alone possessing his friends. Gar slowly turned around and watched as the young Titans he’d been co-mentoring continued in their struggle against the Fearsome Five. They seemed more aggressive in their maneuvers, and sometimes, he even witnessed them licking their lips. Their fighting styles were different, and above it all, it seemed like they weren’t entirely... _ there _ . They were just going through the motions, not a bit of their original personality showing. Gar wasn’t the only one that had noticed this. Kon realized that none of his friends were fighting in sync with him, M’gann couldn’t communicate with them psychically, and Raven sensed the feelings they were having weren’t completely their own. Gar looked around the street they were fighting on, and saw people staring at them from inside the nearby buildings. They weren’t afraid or cheering them on, they were just silently watching them. It felt as if they were appraising them. Goosebumps rose along Gar's skin as paranoia slowly crept in.       

He snapped back into reality when Mammoth was dropped at his feet by Amy and Cassie. Before he could say anything, Bombshell and Wonder Girl flew away.

“Wait!” he shouted after them, “What the heck am I supposed to do with him?!”The two simply ignored him.

Gar pinched the bridge of his nose, and gave a tired sighed. As he glanced around the destroyed the street, he quickly realized that most of the team had already vanished, leaving him to wait for the authorities by himself. With a heavy sigh, he leaned against the destroyed taxi, and stared up at the sky,watching a flock of dark-winged birds fly towards the bay.   

* * *

 

The sun had just set, and Titan’s Tower was too quiet. It was almost  _ never _ this quiet, considering how many youths it housed. There was no fighting, no laughter, no  _ anything _ ; it was like no one was even there. Gar stood in front of his bedroom window, and looked down at the garden. All of Kory’s plants from Tamaran were completely ravaged. They were riddled with bite marks, and shredded by claws. Though, oddly enough, all the plants native to Earth were left untouched. In fact, it seemed like they were in better condition than ever. That familiar, nauseous feeling crept back into Gar’s stomach as he sat down in the armchair he placed next to the window. He wasn’t even sure if anything he had dreamt had even been real. He couldn’t even say for sure if it really  _ was _ the body’s voice that had come out of Bart.He wasn’t sure of anything anymore! The rational part of his brain told him that he was just being paranoid, and that he should probably let it go. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was  _ wrong _ .

Gar groaned aloud and then bit his lip due to the stress. This rarely ever happened to them. The demons they fought were usually right to the point. Possession, destroy one another, etcetera, etcetera.. Not even Deathstroke had ever been  _ this _ patient when it came to enacting an evil plan. Gar knew at this point that something was up, even though he didn’t want to admit it. He was also aware that everyone who  _ wasn’t _ possessed knew something was off, too. Gar just couldn’t believe that, this time, it was related to him. After all, weren’t demons and premonitions more of a...Raven thing? He was rarely ever the main target of these types of attacks. Science experiments gone wrong? Sure. But possession? Those guys were  _ always _ after someone much more important, like the rest of the Doom Patrol, or Raven, or really, anyone _ else _ on the team. The only time he’d been the target was when they’d all gone up against the Zookeeper, but that creature from his nightmare was  _ definitely _ not the Zookeeper. What had Beast Boy done to garner its attention?

As Gar closed his eyes, he heard a low groan coming from outside. “What was that?” Gar asked aloud to no one in particular, startled as he rose from his chair. 

He looked down at the garden nervously, and noticed that the ground was shaking slightly. All the animals were scurrying away from their homes. Gar looked towards the shadows of the trees, and saw a pair of glowing, yellow eyes in the distance. “ _ Solomon… Grundy _ ,” a voice from the shadows grunted as the pair of eyes grew closer. 

“No way,” Gar gasped, slowly backing away from the window

“Born on a Monday,” the voice grunted again, but louder this time. 

“Why hasn’t the alarm gone off? Where is everyone?” Gar ran to his door and tried to open it. As he grabbed the handle, a jolt of electricity ran through his arm. “ _ Aaahh _ ! What the heck?!” he cried out, hopping backwards.

“Christened on Tuesday… Married on Wednesday,” the voice growled furiously from outside. 

Gar looked towards the window. “Okay, he’s fought the JSA and the Justice League before, and nearly beat them both each time, but hey! Batman kicks his ass, like, every month. Maybe this is one of those months where he’s weak,” Gar reasoned with himself as he tried to calm down. “Okay, maybe I can do this, just gotta play it cool. Not the first time I’ve been out of my depth… Hell, I’ve been out of my depth for most of my life, and I’ve somehow made it this far!” 

“Took ill on a Thursday!” the voice bellowed right from under Gar’s window. 

Gar ran towards it and threw it open, taking in a deep breath and muttering; “Why me?” He then leapt out of his room. 

As Gar fell, he transformed into a hawk to fly behind Grundy, and as soon as he touched the ground he turned into an elephant and charged forward. Grundy merely growled and turned towards the incoming pachyderm. “Grew worse on a Friday,” Grundy stumbled forward while his chains rattled in the wind. “Died on a Saturday.” Suddenly, a flock of birds landed on some nearby trees surrounding the two. “Buried on a Sunday!” Finally, Beast Boy and Grundy collided.The impact made the ground shake, and blew the leaves right off of the trees nearby. Gar let out a surprised trumpet as Grundy picked him by the tusks and threw him into the statue of the founding members. “And that was the end of Solomon Grundy!” Grundy roared,charging towards Gar.

Gar changed into a rat and scurried away just before Grundy barreled through the statues. Gar winced sharply as he watched it crumble, knowing that it wasn’t going to be easy to replace. So far, he had come to two conclusions; one, that this was one of Grundy’s  _ stronger _ resurrections, and two, it most certainly was  _ not _ his week. He watched Grundy stumble about, searching for him. As Gar kept watchful eye on the behemoth of a man, he quickly tried to come up with a way to beat him. Brute force was definitely not going to work, and he doubted venom would have any effect on a zombie. Then, as if on cue, a falcon swooped down and picked him up.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Gar shouted as he shifted back to his normal form. Despite the additional weight, the falcon did not let go, but instead, let out a hearty laugh in an all too  _ familiar _ voice. 

Gar’s jaw dropped as the falcon plopped him down onto a tree branch and landed directly beside him. “Boy, are seriously having so much trouble figuring out how to beat Grundy?!” the falcon exclaimed in a mocking sneer. “If you cannot pass the first test, how can you think to face  _ me _ ?” 

“Wait, are you-,” Before Gar could finish his question, the falcon spoke again. 

“No time to chatter, boy, there is only time to fight!” Suddenly Grundy uprooted the tree they were situated in, and threw it towards the Tower. 

Gar leapt off just in time to hear it crash into the tower window. Great. Just what they needed — another thing to repair. Well, Gar thought to himself, it would just have to come out of his Star Trek money. 

After that, Grundy remained oddly still, and stared at Gar menacingly. He then pointed up at the tower behind him. Gar turned around and saw multiple figures watching them fight. A shiver ran down Gar’s spine as he turned back towards Grundy; he couldn’t focus on those figures right then. Not when  he had to focus on staying _ alive _ .       

“Have you ever experienced death? Not just witness it, no, have you truly  _ felt _ it?” The falcon asked him as it circled above. “Your allies reek of death; the speedster, the alien, and the half-demon. All of them died at some point. There is a hall filled to the brim with statues of fallen comrades. There are pictures of past tribes, once brimming with life.Now those pictures seem to be littered with dead bodies.” The Falcon landed on a tree that hung over Gar. “You’ve been a part of these teams in some way or another since their creation. You’ve watched them as they faced death time and time again. You’ve watched comrades fall. Some of them you even believed to be stronger than you, yet despite their strength,  _ you’re _ the one that always managed to escape death. Even your parents died. Your step-mother, and the team that took you in have also perished. Now here you are, still alive. How does it feel, knowing that it is you who continues to thrive while they  _ rot _ beneath your feet?!” 

Gar clenched his fist as a cold sweat ran down his back, between his shoulder blades. The voice continued, as if feeding off of his budding anger. “Do you want to know why it is you continue to survive, while these other...  _ heroes _ fall?  _ You _ are part of  _ the Red _ ! If you got ripped apart by the sniveling out-worlder, like those other weaklings, you merely come back! If you got blown up alongside those freaks you first ran with. you would merely come back! When one becomes part of the Red, they can surpass limits that hold back even demons and out-landers!” the falcon declared proudly. “I’m going to force you to go deeper into the Red, boy. If you become part of my tribe, then you shall be strong enough to run alongside me, and if you refuse, then I suppose I’ll be having a nice, juicy meal. Now boy, you know how to defeat this useless bag of flesh. Go deep into the Red and call upon a form you once used to protect the one most precious to you. You will need that form’s strength if you wish to protect that disgusting whore of yours once again.”

“ _ What the fuck _ did you just call Raven?!” Gar snapped furiously, baring his teeth at the falcon in a threatening snarl. “I don’t know how the hell you know all this stuff about me, but where the hell do you get off talking about everything that’s happened to us, everything that’s happened to  _ me _ , like that?!”    
“Good! Get angry! It will help in the coming fight!” With that final remark, the falcon flew off, laughing into the night.

Gar was then forced to faced Grundy. The dumb bird was right about one thing; Grundy was too strong for any normal animal. Though, if he became a chimera once again, he would just be playing into the monster’s hands. Gar charged forward and became a triceratops, which Grundy only growled at. 

“Wrong choice, boy!” The creature’s voice suddenly rang through Gar’s mind. “You need the claws, the agility, the dense skin, and strength of  _ six _ beasts to rival this foe!” 

Suddenly Grundy launched out of the ground from under Gar, and carried him into the air. Once high enough, he flung Gar back into the ground. Before the shapeshifter could transform into something smaller and run away, Grundy crashed down, breaking the earth underneath them. The dumb bird was right, Beast Boy thought, he needed to be more agile. Gar quickly morphed into a snake and slithered around Grundy’s body and down onto the ground. He then turned back to normal and took a few deep breaths to still his nerves. A velociraptor would be quick enough to dodge Grundy’s attacks, but a velociraptor wouldn’t have the strength, or enough diverse moves. If he became something larger, like a T-Rex, it would just be a repeat of the earlier Triceratops play. If he became a  _ chimera, like the creature had suggested, then _ he would be able to call upon the attributes and strength of six unique animals. Staring down Grundy, it almost seemed like he had no choice. 

“Fine then, I guess you’ll be seeing why people call me  _ Beast _ Boy instead of Changeling,” Gar remarked coldly as he took a loose stance. He flexed his arms and cracked his knuckles in preparation.

“Finally! I’ve been waiting for this!” the creature’s voice exclaimed exuberantly in Beast Boy’s mind. “I request a puma, orangutan, snake, velociraptor, wolf, and house cat mix!”   

Gar ignored the voice and took in several more deep breaths before his eyes turned a shining, primal amber, and a menacing, red aura flowed around him.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long for an update, my life just has been really manic lately. I've been sick, buried by school work, and all sorts of stuff. It's not a real excuse and I should try to be more consistent, but here I am. Anyways I'm going to continue to try to write one of the best (unofficial) Gar minis in existence. Please give me some feedback, I would love to hear what you think. I really enjoy writing it and hearing your thoughts would make that love soar high. So yeah anyways, I'm happy you read this much.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this. I plan for this to be six chapters long like a comic mini-series and I'll do my best to keep up with it. Thank you for your time.


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